Ron Chimelis' piece on medical marijuana, (Medical Pot: solution or next step, June 2, Springfield Republican, Page A6), highlights several important issues. As a physician, I am reluctant to prescribe marijuana, because, while it is legal for therapeutic use in Massachusetts, it remains federally illegal. The prospect of the Drug Enforcement Agency knocking on a prescriber's door is a frightening one for physicians.

I also have the perspective of having lived in Colorado when that state began its process toward full legalization of marijuana for personal use. As Chimelis suggests, medical marijuana was a stepping stone in Colorado on the way to general legalization. In Massachusetts, it seems to me we are trodding down the same path.

My suggestion: allow the people of the Commonwealth to decide whether marijuana should be legal for personal use. Leave doctors out of the middle of this debate – there are too many disincentives for physicians to prescribe marijuana. Full legalization is the real issue.